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The Prius’ Days are Numbered

When are green cars going to be green enough to be worth buying? With the cost of gas increasing at the current rate, electric plug-in vehicles are becoming the brightest alternative. Why bother with a gasoline engine when you can plug in your car each night for the same cost as running your washer or dryer? Not to mention having a virtually silent power source for your car. It seams like a no-brainer to me. So what are the options available today and in the near future?

In keeping with our name Fast Wallpapers, the Tesla Roadster is the only high performance model available to date. With a 0-60 mph time in around 4 seconds and a top speed of 130 mph, these stats touch into super car territory. With up to 250 miles per charge and a charging time of 3.5 hours using an electrician-installed home kit, this is the best out there. Charging from a standard outlet is available too.

A recent addition to the Electric car line up is the Subaru R1e. The R1e is still in testing mode, but it looks like Subaru is intent on taking this little car to production. No word on when this would be. Some suggest that the R1e could be available to consumers in Japan as early as 2009. With the constant improvements in battery technology, it is hard to say what the production R1e will be capable of, but there are prototype versions already on the streets capable of 75 miles on a single charge. Engineers estimate that the production version may be capable of 125 miles on a charge. This joint battery development between Subaru and NEC is reported to be capable of recharging to 90% capacity in five minutes with a lifespan in excess of 93,000 miles. You can read more about this economy electric car at drive.subaru.com.

The California based Aptera, Greek for “wingless flight” has a very promising prototype. The Aptera Typ-1 is technically a motorcycle, this two-seat, three-wheeled vehicle looks more like an experimental aircraft then a car. Manufacturing the Typ-1 is set for later this year. The first production versions could be rolling down the streets of California as early as October. They are planning on producing 2 versions, the Typ-1e and Typ-1h. The e denotes electric and the h, gasoline electric hybrid. The Typ-1e is said to have a range of 120 miles and a complete charge in 2 to 4 hours at a projected cost of $1-2.

Pricing for the all-electric version will be $26,900, and the plug-in hybrid should be about $29,900. You can even reserve yours at their website aptera.com.